Diezani Forfeits N34b to FG

By Dipo Olowookere

Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, on Thursday forfeited over N34 billion to the Federal Government.

The final forfeiture which was ordered by Justice Muslim Sulaiman Hassan of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, is made up of various sums of money-N23, 446, 300,000, N9, 080,000,000 and $5 million.

The court had, on January 6, 2017, given an order of interim forfeiture on the money, following an ex-parte application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) seeking a similar relief.

However, at yesterday’s hearing, counsel to the second respondent submitted that he wanted “a common sense approach to resolving the matter”, after filing two fresh applications for “abridgement of time” and further counter- affidavit on February 8, 2017.

He further told the court that the value of the N9, 080,000,000, which was the proceeds of illegal activity linked to his client, had changed from what it was last year.

According to him, “For as long as this matter is tied to litigation, the value will continue to diminish. In the spirit of peace, we are currently exploring reconciliatory talks towards seeking an amiable settlement in this matter.”

In his reaction, prosecution counsel said that he had filed a counter- affidavit to “some strange applications” he received from the counsel to the second respondent. He further urged the court to strike out both applications filed by the counsel to the second respondent if the intention was to keep the applications in abeyance.

“It is to arrest your Lordship’s judgment fixed for today. It is like the case of a woman in the delivery room being invited to attend a wedding. If she must attend the wedding, she must first be delivered of the baby. Your lordship had given both of us fair hearing in this proceedings. You had listened to our arguments and received affidavit evidence from us. So, I pray my Lord to remove this clog so that the coast will be clear for my Lord to deliver judgment,” he said.

After listening to both counsel, Justice Hassan stood down the matter in order to rule on the applications.

In his ruling, Justice Hassan dismissed the application of the counsel to the second respondent on the grounds that it was an after-thought.

“It will be prejudicial to allow the application to stay. I will not grant an amendment if the essence is to over-reach the respondent,” he said.

While delivering his judgment later, Justice Hassan ordered that the sum of N23, 446, 3000 and $5m should be forfeited to the Federal Government.

He further said that there was no evidence that the sum of 9.8 billion linked to the second respondent was given to him by friends and family.

The former Minister had allegedly siphoned the money from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and stashed in three banks, including Sterling Bank Plc.